


a day for the books

by EllieLovesYou



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Nothing serious, an ankle injury, fairly lighhearted, nothing too heavy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 09:36:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10533780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieLovesYou/pseuds/EllieLovesYou
Summary: Cheryl Blossom can point out a few defining moments in her life without any trouble.When she’s six and realizes that, out of the two of them, most people including their parents would always love her twin more. When she’s eight and her mom tries to hit her only to have Jason take it for her only to come to the conclusion that the only person to love Cheryl is her brother. When she’s eleven and she realizes that a sharp tongue and cold stares would protect her better than a soft heart and kind thoughts ever could. When’s she’s sixteen and she loses her brother, her protector, and her parents go from awful to deadly. When she’s seventeen and she falls in love with a girl, a Cooper, of all people.So how a cheerleading practice ends up being tacked on to that list is, honestly, beyond her.(prompt in the note because it's looong)





	

**Author's Note:**

> based off the v long prompt of: i have a prompt for chetty: it's an established relationship but they haven't told anyone yet except for veronica who caught them making out behind pop's so they had to come clean. so it's vixens practive and cheryl decides to put betty on top of a pyramid bc she worked her ass off and absolutely deserves it. and it's all good betty is up there and cheryl means to say "you are doing amazing, betty" but what actually comes out is "you are doing amazing, baby". on cue the pyramid crumbles. tyvm <3
> 
> i loved writing this and i hope you guys looove reading!

Cheryl Blossom can point out a few defining moments in her life without any trouble.

When she’s six and realizes that, out of the two of them, most people including their parents would always love her twin more. When she’s eight and her mom tries to hit her only to have Jason take it for her only to come to the conclusion that the only person to love Cheryl is her brother. When she’s eleven and she realizes that a sharp tongue and cold stares would protect her better than a soft heart and kind thoughts ever could. When’s she’s sixteen and she loses her brother, her protector, and her parents go from awful to deadly. When she’s seventeen and she falls in love with a girl, _a Cooper_ , of all people.

So how a cheerleading practice ends up being tacked on to that list is, honestly, beyond her.

 

-

 

It starts the summer before junior year--she’s not exactly sure how it starts because, for years, it’s only ever been a very strong dislike between herself and Betty Cooper. Not that she exactly blames Betty because, yeah, Cheryl’s been gunning for the ‘ _biggest bitch_ ’ award since they were eleven and the blonde’s taken a lot of shit from her since then.

And then, one night after a lot of cheap booze, she ends up straddling the blonde in the back of her own old car with her shirt off and everything kind of just-- _shifts_.

Cheryl gets away with fooling herself for a solid month that it’s just about sex and that warm feeling in her chest is nothing and that when school starts, whatever is going on between herself and Betty will cease and they’ll never speak of it again. And then she sees Betty crying one day (fucking Alice Cooper is on Cheryl’s list for the rest of miserable life) and the redhead feels her heart just plain _break_ at seeing her favorite blue eyes filled with tears.

Everything just changes, yet again, after that.

And then four months into their hidden relationship, Veronica, catches them behind Pop’s with Cheryl’s hand shoved up Betty’s shirt while the blonde has her own hand shoved down Cheryl’s skirt.

It goes with saying that Veronica is immediately sworn to secrecy by them both.

Anyways, back to what is now known as ‘ _the practice_ ’ among the River Vixens (and they call Cheryl dramatic).

“Okay, ladies” Cheryl stands in front of all the girls, all of them half worn down already from the first thirty minutes of their practice “I’m feeling _generous_ today--” read: she and Betty have plans that involve the both her and the blonde still having enough energy to have fun in Cheryl’s king sized bed “We’re gonna through one more cheer and then all of you wannabes can go shower, wash them shame off of yourselves and go home and wonder just why you’ll never live up to anyone's standards, got it?” a beat because when Cheryl asks a question, she’s not actually asking for a response “Great. So we’re gonna do our usual game cheer and end in a pyramid” the girls start to move, ready to start so they can all go home when Cheryl sighs “Oh yeah and there’s gonna be just a teeny tiny change--Maddy, you’re off the top, Betty you’re in”

Betty’s eyes bulge out of her head “I--what?”

“You’re in” Cheryl cocks her head to the side “Don’t think I haven’t seen you working your ass off since last year, Cooper. I’ve noticed and now you’re being rewarded, don’t make me regret it”

Of course, Veronica is eyeing her a little suspiciously but all Cheryl can do is roll her eyes and go to stand between Tina and Ginger because Betty’s oral skills have nothing to do with her being put on top (no matter how fucking amazing they are and trust, they are amazing).

 In truth, Betty has been working her ass off since becoming a River Vixen and everyone can see it and it’s just about time that she’s rewarded for working harder than most of the girls on the squad.

And if the fact that she’s kind of in love with (read: ass first in love with) Betty helps Cheryl make that decision, then whatever.

“Okay!” she yells out “Impress me” as soon as she stops speaking, Ginger presses the play button on the old stereo they use for practice.

At first, everything goes off without a hitch--a pretty standard cheer with everyone doing everything they should be doing. Cheryl looks a little worried as she watches her blonde girlfriend lock her knees as she reaches the top of the pyramid, she moves from her place to walk towards the pyramid to inspect it.

And then she fucks up.

She means to yell out ‘You’re doing amazing, Betty!’ because she is, she’s not shaking, she doesn’t look scared, her smile is still perfect and in place--so, of course, Cheryl is going to compliment her, she doles out compliments to her River Vixens when they deserve and she feels Betty deserves it-- _but_ her brain must short circuit for a second because what comes out is “you’re doing amazing, baby!”

And, of course, the whole fucking pyramid crashes as soon as the word slips.

She sees Betty crumble in on herself as soon as she realizes what was just happening, probably to avoid crashing backwards onto the blue mat that are supposed to provide some kind of comfort but don’t because Riverdale High is cheap and hasn’t bought new ones since the damn school opened.

 After that it’s just a mess of yellow shirts and black shorts with groans mixed in.

“Shit” she turns around “Fucking turn the music off!” Ginger looks in shock but quickly snaps to doing what Cheryl tells  her to do, a reflex if anything. The redhead walks towards the mess of people and tries to not just scream at them while restraining herself from yelling for Betty because there is no need to make this whole situation worse.

“Betty!” Veronica voices her own concern, loudly and without care being no one looks twice at a best friend being concerned for the other “Hey, you okay?” Cheryl feels her arms ache as Veronica gathers the blonde up in a tight hug, worry etched on her features while fear grips Cheryl’s heart.

“Yeah, yeah--” she briefly locks eyes with Cheryl and nods, barely easing the knot in the redhead’s stomach “I’m okay”

“Are you sure?” Cheryl takes a step closer, hyperaware of how everyone is looking at her closely “Do you want to go to the nurse's’ office?” she tries to be neutral but the worry in her eyes is as plain as day and she knows it.

Betty shakes her head and grips Veronica’s arm as she tries to haul herself up but stops halfway, her face twisted together in a grimace. Veronica quickly stands up and allows the blonde to lean against her “B?”

“Sorry, I just--” Betty lets out a short breath, a defeated look on her face “I think I sprained my ankle”

Cheryl feels her stomach churn with guilt--maybe Betty hadn’t been as ready as she thought. She whirls around and faces the rest of the girls who pulled themselves up “ _Out_! Practice is over!” she snaps, using the anger she has for herself and directs at the girls who dropped her girl in the first place.

Everyone stumbles for a second as they all snap to follow orders, crashing into each other as they gather their bags and run out of the gym as fast as their feet can carry them, some already tapping out a message to their friends. Ginger and Tina linger behind for a second but with a glare from Cheryl, they follow suit and rush out of the gym.

The redhead sighs, rubs her temples feeling a headache already forming and turns back to Betty, a softer look in place “I--is it bad? And _don’t_ lie”

“No, no, I don’t think so” Cheryl moves over to the blonde’s side and grips Betty’s waist, a silent ‘lean on me’ “I’m good, Cher”

Veronica clears her throat “I’ll give you two a minute” she squeezes Betty’s shoulder “I’ll be outside if you need me, alright?” she gives Cheryl a soft smile, an encouraging one before plucking her bag off the floor and going outside.

As soon as the door lets out an audible _‘thunk’_ as it shuts close, Cheryl lets out a cross between a huff and a groan “God, are you--are you sure you’re okay?”

Betty nods and gestures over to the chairs that Cheryl, Tina and Ginger usually sit on while bossing everyone else around “Just--I need to sit down for a sec”

“Yeah, yeah, c’mon” the redhead helps her injured girlfriend to one of the chairs and eases her down as gently as she can. After making sure she’s situated, Cheryl kneels down in front of the blonde and looks down at Betty’s ankle, her nose scrunching together “I’m pretty sure you were right about the sprain” she reaches over and grabs the other chair and yanks it over so it’s close to them both “prop it up. I’m gonna ask Veronica to grab the nurse”

Cheryl’s about to rise to her feet and run over to the door when Betty’s hand shoots out and grabs the redhead’s wrist causing Cheryl to look back, confusion etched on her face “Hey, you know, this wasn’t your fault, right?”

“I--” Cheryl huffs “I know” she doesn’t--not really because if she just would've kept her mouth shut, then her Betty wouldn’t be sitting in a chair with a sprained ankle. Betty tries to urge her down but Cheryl shakes her head “Let me tell Veronica to call the nurse and then you can sit me down and mother me about how it’s not my fault” the blonde chuckles and nods, letting go of Cheryl’s wrist.

The redhead quickly runs over the door, pushes it open a crack, whispers something and then is closing the door again. She walks back over to her girlfriend with a frown in place and sighs “okay, lay it on me”

Betty grabs her hand and gently urges Cheryl back down and pushes some of her red hair away from her face “don’t feel bad--” Chery opens to her mouth, to argue but Betty shakes her head “Ah. A slip of the tongue shouldn’t have caused the whole thing to crumble. This isn’t on you”

Cheryl lets out a sigh and settles on her knees, her hands placed on either of Betty’s thighs “I should--I should've been more careful” a beat “If I just would've watched and not opened my damn mouth--” she closes her eyes and and rubs at her temples “god, this _is_ my fault” guilt causes her stomach to churn, making her feel like she could throw up from being the cause of Betty’s getting hurt.

“Hey, no, it’s not” Betty cups Cheryl’s face, her thumb gently stroking her jaw “You didn’t lose balance or let go--this isn’t on you”

“Yeah, you tell keep telling yourself that”

Betty chuckles and leans forward, placing a soft kiss on Cheryl’s forehead, while usually she was definitely the more _‘submissive’_ one in the relationship, sometimes her girl just needs to be taken care of too.

Even if Betty is the one with sporting a sprained ankle.

“I will and I will keep telling you till you get so annoyed with me that you finally just let me have this one”

Cheryl cocks her head, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth “I don’t give up easily, you know that”

“Yeah, well, neither do I” her hands drop to Cheryl’s shoulders, rubbing them softly “You know that” a beat “c’mere” she tugs her girlfriend close “I need a hug”

“No you don’t. You’re just trying to con me for affection so you can lower my defenses and get me to agree”

“We both know I don’t need to con you for anything, you’re a cuddle bug and you can’t deny it” Betty smiles as Cheryl narrows her eyes at the blonde “now c’mere” she tugs Cheryl again, this time with no resistance from the redhead and wraps her arms around Cheryl’s neck while the redhead’s go and wrap around Betty’s waist.

Betty rests her chin on her girlfriend’s head as Cheryl squeezes Betty softly “I’m sorry” she says after a quiet moment “I never would've put you up there if I knew that was going to happen”

“That’s what you don’t have to be sorry, Cher” the blonde places a kiss to the crown of Cheryl’s head “You didn’t put me up there to hurt me and you didn’t let go of me--you have nothing to be sorry for”

Cheryl tilts her head back so she’s looking up at the blonde, her eyes so much softer than anyone has seen them, a softness they possess only when Betty’s around “still”

Betty leans down and presses a soft kiss against Cheryl’s mouth, nothing passionate and heavy. Just sweet and filled with a love that makes Cheryl’s head spin most days. Betty pulls back and presses her forehead against Cheryl’s “love you” she mumbles softly as the redhead’s heart jumps in her chest--they don’t say it often, both just a little too out of touch with their emotions and how to deal with them so when they do say, it still feels like the first time all over again.

“Love you too” Cheryl surges up and presses another kiss to Betty’s mouth just as Veronica pushes the door open and grins at the scene in front of her that is Cheryl Blossom wrapped in her best friend’s arms--she lets the door close behind her as softly as she can get it to and decides to give them a little while longer before telling them the nurse is on her way.

 

**Author's Note:**

> please drop a comment, i live off of them! they really make my day! :))


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